Damn, my first 'Chucker'! What was yours??

[fastricky]

Cooked up a 'Raspberry Wheat' today. All went smoothly, great efficiency (88%) etc.

But while I was ramping up from a Protein Rest to the Saccrification, I didn't get back to the kettle in time to stir it soon enough and the wort scorched the bottom of the kettle (was running a false bottom, so it was the liquid that scorched the kettle). I'm relieved I was able to get that scorched bottom clean (it wasn't easy!)

It smelled burnt but I soldered on and put it in the fermenter. But I kept the sample from the hydrometer test tube and tasted it - crazy burnt tasting! Not in a good way whatsoever. So, tomorrow morning I'm going to chuck it, even though it's already fermenting away 5 hours later. So it goes and lesson learned.

Was amazed at all the protein like white flakes floating around the wort btw, is that a cause of the white wheat? (This was my first wheat experience).

What caused you to chuck a batch?

 

[eschatz]

DONT TOSS THE BEER!

Let it do it's thing and you might have the best beer of your life. Just brew another batch. Never toss!

 

[fastricky]

Appreciate the support!

But will those little yeasties eat away that burnt flavor? It really was the same as burning a tomato sauce... that's just a flavor that ain't gonna go down good. Unless there's something about the fermentation process that can clean up this faux pas...

 

[eschatz]

yeah, yeast are pretty good about fixing certain things.

You never know though. It wont hurt anything to leave it around. Do you have other fermenters?

 

[fastricky]

I do, but then there's bottling also, and keeping it all hanging around a NYC apartment (finite storage space). It REALLY tasted burnt, don't this one can be helped...

Moment of silence.

And a toast to all the beers that could have been. SNIFF... SNIFF...

 

[hayabusa]

Judge it after it ferments out, not before. Give it a chance, you have nothing to lose.

 

[eschatz]

Judge it after it ferments out, not before. Give it a chance, you have nothing to lose.

just about to say that. see what the yeast do. If you don't like come bottling time then give us a ring but I'm probably going to tell you to bottle it anyways. time fixes things.

 

[Kronin]

.... think of bobbit. did he call it quuits? sayin "nah, just chuck it out, its done!"
No, TIME HEALS lol,
okay thats a bit different but I believe these guys that say, ****ty beer for 3 months, but 6 months? delicious.... you just never know

 

[fastricky]

Hey, I highly respect the opinion and knowledge of the folks here! But this is sort of a light beer which is why I'm so doubtful... but it is true, I don't have the experience many of you do...

 

[DudeBrew]

A wise beer enthusiast once said R.D.W.H.A.H.B. and be patient, it's hard to honestly really screw it up. Unless you never boiled anything or even raised your temperature once while throwing half your stuff in the air, jumping up and down making monkey noises. Your beer may not be all 100% the way you shot for but it will be good. It's hard to get it exactly right, plus S@#$ Happens man ::

 

[Fingers]

I once brewed 10 gallons and fermented between 80 and 90 degrees during a heat wave when the a/c was out. I let it go all the way and finally dumped one keg of it. I kept the other one and a year later.... it was still crap. I don't need the keg quite yet so I've kept it for another year. I expect it to be crap.

Moral of the story: If you need the equipment to make another, don't take up space with what is likely bad beer. Keep it if you can, dump it if can make it again without the mistake.

 

[Yooper]

My only dumper was the vanilla caramel cream ale. I was going to dump all of it, but my best friend liked it and took home what I was going to throw out. She drank it all, but it was the most vile stuff ever. It was like vanilla cream soda (the soda pop) with a dash of beer added.

 

[PseudoChef]

+1 on keeping it.

I dumped a Southern English Brown - don't know what happened to it, but never got right. Needed the bottles.

Brewing it again today to punch it's stupid face in. I WILL have a palatable SEB, bitches!

 

[eschatz]

haven't ever dumped a beer. I've got one right now that I THINK has skunked. I'm not sure. It's all fouled up. I'm drinking it right now. I'll make it through the keg immediately.

 

[Braid]

You need to find a "mikey". That's what the guys n my club call me. It's great!!!! I get all the beer they feel is "dumpable". Amazing what can happen when you give it a little time and possible even referment it on some fruit!

Who knows, even if there is a little off taste in it, be creative. Use it to make mixed beers like tomato juice and beer or I've even added flavored rum to some beers. Beer can also do a wonder tenderizing steaks while adding some flavor (let em sit in a ziploc for a day or two).

Anyway, just my 2 cents worth.

 

[BioBeing]

My only dumper was the vanilla caramel cream ale. I was going to dump all of it, but my best friend liked it and took home what I was going to throw out. She drank it all, but it was the most vile stuff ever. It was like vanilla cream soda (the soda pop) with a dash of beer added.

What were you thinking to even try brewing that? It just plain sounds vile! [But maybe I am just soured on vanilla in beer after that Michelob Winter crap I had recently?]

 

[BierMuncher]

My only dumper was the vanilla caramel cream ale. I was going to dump all of it, but my best friend liked it and took home what I was going to throw out. She drank it all, but it was the most vile stuff ever. It was like vanilla cream soda (the soda pop) with a dash of beer added.

Sounds familiar. Like a bad dream I had about 2 years ago.

 

[steelerguy]

My first tossed beer was a hefe that I scorched also. Just toss it now and forget about it. Yeast are great at turning sugar into alcohol but they will not turn burnt chit flavors into anything good...it will remain a burnt chit flavor. I don't know if a lot of people just like to drink beer they make regardless of its flavor or what, but yeah...a burnt batch just needs to be tossed.

 

[kharmajavah]

My only dumper so far was my second batch ever. It was a Scottish Ale, and between my newb disregard of proper sanitation and a too-high fermentation temperature in the Florida summer, it went bad pretty quick. But, I soldiered on and fermented it out. I even left it in secondary for a pretty long time...bottled it...waited...nope. But...I mean...it was just ruined. I was hoping for a miracle, but it wasn't to be.

I still say, let it ferment, bottle it, and see what happens. The only thing it will cost you is space for a while, and even it if tastes like poo it might still be good for marinating steaks!

 

[DanVader]

kicked my second all grain over in the front yard, didn't even see the point of wasting the yeast on it. Set up the wort chiller, put the lid on (just a crack left to clear the hoses) everything looked good went back in the garage to clean up a little.
come back and the garden hose connection is pissing a miniscule stream of water you guessed it right into the crack left open on the lid (from about 5 feet away) 5 gallons of wort and 4 gallons of hose water didn't seem too appealing. Didn't even take a gravity reading, just said a few bad words and fed it to the bushes

 

[fastricky]

Keep the episodes comin'!

Seems to me screwing up is one of the best ways to learn, shame it comes at such a cost...

What I'm going to do is let it finish fermenting in the primary, since it's only a 1-week duration. I want to ranch/wash that yeast (Nottingham) so at that point I'll give the brew a little taste before racking.

99.99999% sure it'll be going down the drain - really hurts because it's fermenting beautifully. Man, I did everything else right and one 5 minute lapse... now I know what the Mets felt like for the past 2 seasons!

 

[foxtrot]

I scorched a wit I did last year while doing a decoction; just could not get the damned thing to boil properly with all that gooey oats/wheat! Anyway, the beer turned out fine, as long as I kept the keg VERY STILL. I moved it to another part of the kegerator one time and it was enough to rouse the sediment and give the beer a charred flavor. Had to wait another few weeks for it to settle before drawing another pint. So I got lucky that the charred crud settled over time.

 

[ghpeel]

I did a spiced blueberry Wit beer from a kit for my 4th batch ever, which was not a great idea, and ended up having to dump it. The reason?: it tastes like cold medicine.

I've searched around for the cause and have come up with 2 possibilities:

1) Bleach that was not completely rinsed out of the bottles/bottling bucket, or

2) Cardamon - if you use the wrong variety, it can taste medicinal I've heard.

If anyone has any other ideas, please feel free to chime in and let me know.

Moral of the story? Brew simple beers when you're a newby and gradually increase the complexity as you go. If you've done less than 8 batches, do NOT try that all-grain, decoction-mashed watermelon Wit from a bottle-cultured lambic yeast.

(Damn it, that was supposed to be a joke but now I'm thinking......hmmmmm......)

 

[Revvy]

We have the stories on here about how our beer and the yeasties are pretty resiliant...

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/ne...virtue-time-heals-all-things-even-beer-73254/

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/wh...where-your-beer-still-turned-out-great-96780/

If you dump a beer there's 100% chance it won't turn out...if you see it through you have a 50% chance it turns out...if you give it a long time...the odds are in your favor...

 

[farmbrewernw]

I would wait and see how things turn out, that being said I have tossed batches before it happens from time to time. I fermented a beer in an old 15 gal pop syrup barrel a couple of weeks ago, apparently the plastic has really soaked up the syrup flavor. Long story short my pale ale tastes like Dr. Pepper despite soaking the crap out of the barrel, likely I'll throw out all 10 gallons as I just don't see that flavor aging out.

 

[PseudoChef]

There's definitely a difference between a mild off flavor that may mellow out over time - like the bubblegum from my dubbel about a year ago. It's drinkable now.

But then there's times where a good palate just knows it's not going to get better, so you should just go ahead and recoup your bottles or keg - my southern english brown. There's no point in keeping it for a year, because it's that far off the mark.

 

[fastricky]

There's definitely a difference between a mild off flavor that may mellow out over time - like the bubblegum from my dubbel about a year ago. It's drinkable now.

But then there's times where a good palate just knows it's not going to get better, so you should just go ahead and recoup your bottles or keg - my southern english brown. There's no point in keeping it for a year, because it's that far off the mark.

Exactly what my gut told me. It's been dumped. The end. (I tried it again as I as dumping it... HORRIBLE!!)

 

[bad coffee]

Fas, where are you in nYc? I'm in brooklyn.

B

 

[steelerguy]

Exactly what my gut told me. It's been dumped. The end. (I tried it again as I as dumping it... HORRIBLE!!)

I think you did the right thing. I actually did ferment out the beer I burnt...tasted like crap going into the bottling bucket. Bottled it and let it carb. 2 weeks later it tasted like carbonated crap. Waited another month because I didn't need the bottles nor did I feel like opening them all up. Tasted another one, still tasted burnt, nothing was going to fix the burnt taste.

 

[velotech]

i'm about ready to dump my first. this is after 8 years of brewing. i tried a recipe i made up. i had a brew in singapore last august that was brewed with spirulina. it was a nice bright emerald green color and for some reason i thought i could make the same thing on my first try for st. pats. wrong! i guess i added waaaaayyyy too much. the whole batch tastes like hay even after fermentation is complete. i have it in a keg, but it's not getting better. i just need to chalk this up to experience and dump it. stoopid me, just stick to nice irish reds for st. pats.

 

[fastricky]

Fas, where are you in nYc? I'm in brooklyn.

B

UES... but I make my way to Brooklyn often enough - Too many great pubs/restaurants in Brooklyn not to! Where in Brooklyn? - Rich

 

[david_42]

A ropey infection in a stout. Looked and smelled like coffee jello. Didn't taste it.

 

[bad coffee]

I'm in clinton hill/bed stuy. pseudo-ghetto. But I've got lots of space for cheap.

Knock on wood, but I haven't had to chuck a batch yet. I did have some funkyness in my dirty blonde, but a few months chillin out cured it. It's not a great beer, but it's definitely drinkable now.

B

 

[baru]

Cooked up a 'Raspberry Wheat' today. All went smoothly, great efficiency (88%) etc.

But while I was ramping up from a Protein Rest to the Saccrification, I didn't get back to the kettle in time to stir it soon enough and the wort scorched the bottom of the kettle (was running a false bottom, so it was the liquid that scorched the kettle). I'm relieved I was able to get that scorched bottom clean (it wasn't easy!)

It smelled burnt but I soldered on and put it in the fermenter. But I kept the sample from the hydrometer test tube and tasted it - crazy burnt tasting! Not in a good way whatsoever. So, tomorrow morning I'm going to chuck it, even though it's already fermenting away 5 hours later. So it goes and lesson learned.

Was amazed at all the protein like white flakes floating around the wort btw, is that a cause of the white wheat? (This was my first wheat experience).

What caused you to chuck a batch?

I brewed up a batch out by the outhouse when my grampa was visiting once for a week.
I asked him to watch my wort for a few while I went in to get a sandwitch.
When I came back out in the back yard he was standing in the door of the outhouse looking kinda lost. When I asked him whut wuz wrong he said "Ya'll sure got hot latrenes around here". I thought 'well it is kinda warm today' and didn't think anymore about it till I noticed that he had not moved from the doorway. By then I was racking to the fermentator. Grampa had a habit of wandering off and getting lost, and talkiing to people that werent around no more. That's why he was visiting for a week. He would stay with pa for a week then with my aunt for a week or two, then with my uncle for a while.
Anyway, the beer fermented out ok but I could never bring myself to taste it. I gave some to my brother in law and he said it tasted like crap. Well, I poured it out down by the watermelon patch and precher just couldn't get enough watermelon that year. He fell off his horse on the way home after a watermelon social one saturday nite. We found him next morning passed out in the middle of the watermelon patch.

 

[Jaeger48]

What The ****?

 

[fastricky]

That's one wacky story

I thought you were going in the direction of ol gramps getting confused and doing his business in the kettle. :cross: